championsonlinefandomcom-20200223-history
Vibora Bay
Vibora Bay is a city on the Gulf Coast of Florida, located on the Florida Panhandle, known for its unique "flavor" and culture, and sometimes the site of some strange, mystic occurrences. Black Mask X is its chief superhero. The zone was introduced with the Revelation expansion. History Layout Vibora Bay is split into three districts: the Weston District, the High Street District and the Easton District The Weston District comprises the entire western half of the city and has traditionally been known as "the wrong side of the tracks" (or, more accurately, of High Street). Poorer, less well-developed, less well maintained, and more crime-ridden than Easton, it's euphemistically described as a "working-class area". Its population is primarily (though not entirely) black and Hispanic, though recent years have seen gentrification (and thus an influx of whites) in a few areas near High Street. Weston consists of: Business Park, Atwater, Catalina, Cypress Grove Park, Far Weston, Hollings Hill, Inner Weston, The Jumble, Midtown, Union Station & Weston Shore The High Street District comprises the a stretch h of the city between Weston and Easton and consists of: Financial District, The Tangles and The Waterfront The Easton District comprises the entire eastern half of the city andconsists of: Cluet Farm, Duval Street, Easton Shore, Far Easton, The Forum, Inner Easton, Oldcorne, Walton Bayview and Walton Palms Park Geography and climate The following information is mostly from the Champions role-playing game Located on the Florida Panhandle, the lovely city of Vibora Bay is about 60 miles east on Pensacola and 80 miles southwest of Tallahassee. By population, Vibora Bay is the largest city in Florida, with just over 800,000 inhabitants (slightly more than Jacksonville, which has 750,000), and the largest “metropolitan statistical area” (including the withered smaller cities and communities surrounding it) with a total population of 1.8 million (the Miami/Hialeah/Coral Gables area is next, at around 1.2 million). Since Florida is the fourth-largest state in the United States, this makes Vibora Bay one of the most important and influential American cities. Vibora Bay sits on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico – the enormous, partially-landlocked body of water that borders five American states and five more of Mexico, as well as the island of Cuba. The Gulf's formation is usually dated to having happened 300 million years ago, thought to have been formed by subsidence of the sea floor, and though it's shallow around the "rim" it becomes quite deep (as much as 4 km) in the central and southwest areas. It's a major waterway for shipping and industry, as well as fishing and offshore mining. The water of the Gulf can be astonishingly warm and the city's excellent commercial beaches are no exception, averaging over 80 degrees Fahrenheit during the summer months and rarely dropping below 60 degrees even in the depths of winter. The waters are considerably calmer in the Gulf than on the Atlantic side of the state, which results in little surf unless there’s a storm brewing (an event that draws a few thrillseekers to locations like Seagrove and Panama City Beach, despite the best efforts of police and rescue workers). Due to a minimal amount of sediment reaching the shore by the river in this area, the waters along the coastline are often breathtakingly clear and green, in delicate shades of turquoise and emerald. The white sands on a sunny day can be blinding to tourists not wearing sunglasses. Since Vibora Bay sits well back on the North American continental shelf, the water remains shallow for a considerable distance, allowing waders to walk hundreds of yards out from shore in some locations. However, as the city’s name indicates, it sits on an excellent natural bay with the deep water necessary to support shipping. Before aquatic research facilities began settling in the Keys, Vibora Bay was a very popular location for research groups, both private and government. Factions Gangs * Soverign Sons: The gang picture in Vibora Bay was complicated in the mid-90s by the arrival of the Sovereign Sons, a large, well-armed gang of criminals from Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, and a few other Caribbean nations. Not only willing, but seemingly eager, to use violence as a tool of commerce, the Sons eliminated several smaller gangs and clashed briefly but bloodily with the New Shadows before settling down to rule the Weston territories they'd claimed by right of conquest. Since then a tense truce, occasionally broken by turf wars that usually fizzle out after a month or two, has prevailed, but the authorities know this state of affairs can't last forever. The Sons are mainly involved in drug dealing, though they also commit robberies and have established some protection rackets. They dominate the crack cocaine trade in Weston, often controlling prime dealing spots that aren't strictly within their "turf", since other gangs have learned that fighting them over a street corner usually isn't worth it. They also sell some designer drugs, including the infamous narcotic Blaze, though their source for such wares remains unknown. The Soverign Sons is lead by a mysterious man known only as "the Baron." According to reports of the few law enforcement officers who have seen him, he is a tall, handsome, lightskinned black man of indeterminate age, and in contrast to his followers, who wear street clothing, he dresses in expensive men's suits and has large gold rings on three of his fingers. The Sovereign Sons are a fusion of both a Voodoo cult and a criminal organization who use black magic as well as more traditional forms of intimidation and murder to illegally seize power both in their native Vibora Bay and other parts of the world. * Trey Kings: The Treys (whose symbol is a stylized number "three" of uncertain origin) are a racially-mixed gang primarily based in Panama City, where they're rivals to the Imperial Posse. Since the IPs are part of the Big Picture, the Treys have made over-tures to Guy Sweetland's lieutenants on the streets of Easton. But so far he dismisses the idea of allying himself with "a bunch of punk kids." In Champions Online, the Treys are portrayed as an antagonistic and diabolical gang-like cult of of demon-worshipping psychopaths whose every member are reputed to be possessed by evil spirits. The Treys have never been considered a major threat in Vibora Bay, but rumor has it that they dabble in magic and demon worship, and from recent evidence it seems their interests have started to pay off in a big way. Like many other gangs of Vibora Bay, the Trey Kings are simply pawns of the Nephilim and Therakiel. * Dogz: Based in the easternmost reaches of Walton Bayview, the Dogz, a street gang made mostly up members suffering from lycanthropy, are little more than a loose collection of castoffs and rejects from the neighborhood's other gangs who've banded together for mutual protection and the odd minor burglary. Some members have grandiose dreams of building the Dogz into a criminal force in the city, as unlikely as that seems. * New Shadows: The New Shadows is a street gang organization founded and helmed by Clark Robinson, mainly made up of members of a vampiric nature. The gang is also called "the Big Picture" or "Shadow Tower" (after its headquarters), the Weston Gang Nation, or simply the Weston Mob (the police prefer the latter name). The gang descended from a number of street gangs that were influential in the city during the turbulent sixties and seventies, in particular a dangerous street gang called the Shadows. The Shadows, being heavily influenced by the various Black Power movements of the times, originally expanded their interests beyond simple street crime when they began to acquire weapons for avarious groups planning on using them for armed revolution. The predicted uprising against the government never happened, but the Shadows discovered they could make big money in the gun business, turning impressive profits arming drug dealers bringing in South American cocaine in the 80s, gradually "acquiring" several criminal operations until they were powerful enough to start forcing gangs to work with them. The VBPD believes Robinson has led this underworld coalition since about 1995. Heroes of Vibora Bay * Black Mask X, masked vigilante, the latest in a bloodline to wear the mask * Nocturne * Brother Thunder * Dr. Ka * Juryrig, an inventor and tinker of sorts * Redsnake, inventor and teacher of a martial art * Robert Caliburn, a pistol-wielding sorcerer intent to becoming Earth's archmage and doing good * Sister Rain Sub Zones * Dr. Ka's Brownstone ( ) Maps Trivia * Vibora Bay also featured heavily in the original Champions role-playing game by HERO Games. Category:Locations Category:Locations/Zones